Most Americans and Canadians get enough calcium and vitamin D, report says

Most Americans and Canadians get enough calcium and vitamin D, and too much of the nutrients may be harmful, says an expert committee of the Institute of Medicine, part of the US National Academies of Science.

These nutrients are important for bone health, but there is not enough evidence to support their role in other conditions, and they may be harmful at very low or very high levels of intake, the committee said. Both nutrients have received media attention in recent years. Vitamin D testing has become common in the United States, and the committee called for better laboratory standards.

Advocacy groups such as the Council for Responsible Nutrition, which represents manufacturers of dietary supplements, called the report “a modest step” that “fell …